Roy Shaposhnik
חשיפה: הישראלי רועי שפושניק, המעורב באירועים האחרונים בחצר המלוכה בירדן, הוא סייען של המוסד
حصري: الاسرائيلي روعي شابوشنيك، الضالع في الأحداث الأخيرة في البلاط الملكي الإردني، متعاون مع الموساد
An Israeli Mossad asset aided Jordan’s ex-crown prince, Hamzah bin Hussein, in a plot to overthrow King Abdullah. Roy Shaposhnik is not an ex-Mossad agent, as Jordan claimed. It said that the Israeli offered to supply a plane to the Jordanian’s family to escape the country after the plot was exposed. Instead, Shaposhnik is, according to a well-informed Israeli source, what’s known as a sayan, an Israeli living abroad who performs various crucial tasks overseas for agents who cannot perform them themselves for legal, or other reasons.
Lt. Saposhnik in 2007 during IDF reserve service
Shaposhnik owns a security consulting firm whose website describes its mission:
GMSS offers a full spectrum of cost-effective services in the areas of Life & Mission Support, Risk Management, Intelligence, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management. GMSS closely supports our clients’ operations and personnel in optimizing their resources and mission outcomes. Our operations span the globe with considerable focus on Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. We apply our knowledge and expertise to provide complex risk management and operational support services to support client operations in often austere environments. GMSS provides specialized support to the U.S. Government, foreign Governments, and commercial organizations worldwide.
GMSS has been associated with Erik Prince, who himself has been associated with some exceedingly sketchy projects in the region designed to bring him immense riches. Working with one of Prince’s companies, Olive Group, Shaposhnik participated in a project to build Iraq’s first toll highway. He also helped train Iraqi troops. It was during that project he met Prince Hamzah.
Unconfirmed rumors have bruited the involvement of Saudi Arabia and UAE in the plot as well. Relations between Jordan, and the Gulf states and Israel have been tortured of late. Amidst the normalization announced a few months ago under the rubric of the Abraham Accords, the Saudis and Israelis proposed that the former could either supplant Jordan’s role as custodian of Jerusalem Muslim holy places, or perform them jointly.
Saposhnik’s corporate LinkedIn account
Given that Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam, such a plan would have been received as a slap in the face by Jordan. Recently, Israeli PM Netanyahu was scheduled to make his first visit to UAE to meet its leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The trip was canceled at the last minute when King Abdullah refused Israel permission to fly over Jordanian airspace.
In typical petulant tit-for-tat fashion, Netanyahu refused to release water requested under an emergency provision by Jordan.
A few years ago, a Shin Bet agent serving as security for the Israeli embassy in Amman, murdered a Jordanian in his apartment. In the aftermath, Jordan expelled the Israeli ambassador and, when the Shin Bet agent was finally released, he received a hero’s welcome in Israel. Naturally, Jordanians were disgusted and angry at this louche behavior.
Given that Shaposhnik’s actions could have seriously damaged Israeli relations with Jordan, I assumed he would be under close supervision by Israeli intelligence. My source told me that activities of sayanim are not necessarily monitored.
However, since he is a Mossad asset, either it knew what he was doing and approved it, either tacitly or explicitly; or it didn’t know about his involvement in the plot. That too is deeply troubling, as it means that Shaposhnik was no longer under the direction of the Mossad, but was rather freelancing and pursuing his own personal interests.
Shaposhnik’s business website
Shaposhnik himself claims, rather disingenuously, that he was simply trying to help a good friend in distress. This beggars belief not merely because Israel does not do favors out of the goodness of its heart, but also because Shaposhnik is, or should be, intelligent enough to realize that participating in any way, even tangentially, in a coup plot against a country with whom Israel has friendly relations, would provoke a hornet’s nest of controversy.
The annals of Israeli intelligence are full of such swashbuckling figures like Rafi Eitan, who ran Jonathan Pollard and Mike Harari, Manuel Noriega’s special friend. So it is possible that Shaposhnik was pursuing a personal agenda in helping the Jordanian.
But it is equally possible he was acting as a “cut-out” for the Mossad, Supplying Hamza with intelligence, logistical assistance and financing to aid the plot. The Israelis and Saudis may have sought a more pliable leader than Abdullah. One who would do their bidding, notably in taking a more hands-off approach to the Palestinians.
Though Jordan sees itself as the protector of Palestinian interests, it usually honors them only in the breach or under duress But even this level of interference in Palestinian affairs may anger Netanyahu, who would like to be rid of the Palestinian problem once and for all. Trump’s Deal of the Century offered the Israeli leader the nearest opportunity he’s ever had to achieve Israel’s goals of eradicating the possibility for a Palestinian state. He and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had coordinated a plan to pressure Mahmoud Abbas into submission through a combination of tens of billions in bribes and threats. The one wild card they could not control was Jordan. And while Abdullah did not denounce these machinations, he did not endorse them either. The prospect of installing a new Jordanian leader who would endorse such efforts may have been a prospect too enticing to pass up.
If Israel was part of this plot it would have been exceedingly reckless on its part. Jordan has the best intelligence agency in the Arab world. It would certainly have detected this plot (as it did) before it came to fruition. Once Israel’s role came out it would cause even greater distrust and enmity than already exists. And if Israel is not involved, it will have to convincingly deny it; something it has not attempted to do, even unconvincingly, thus far.
Silverstein has published Tikun Olam since 2003, It exposes the secrets of the Israeli national security state. He lives in Seattle, but his heart is in the east. He publishes regularly at Middle East Eye, the New Arab, and Jacobin Magazine. His work has also appeared in Al Jazeera English, The Nation, Truthout and other outlets.
[Comment deleted: If you want to smear me and reject the truth and accuracy of my reporting, you won’t do it here. You are moderated. If you ever want to publish a comment here again, you may disagree with my reporting. But you may not insult it or the Israeli sources I’ve carefully cultivated over the past 15 years in my reporting. Do so again & you will be banned. In a heartbeat.]
Lets deal in facts. Shall we?
The Prince texts his close friend, Roy, and tells him that the King has put him under house arrest, so Roy offers to fly the Prince’s wife and kids our of Jordan. The Prince and Roy are ‘close friends’, as per Axios.
That’s all we know at this point. That’s it.
With our limited understand of Hashemite tribal politics or their Royal Family we should just wait for evidence.
8th Man:
“Facts?” Whose facts? Jordan’s facts? Mossad’s facts? My Israeli source’s facts?
Jordan says Saposhnk is a Mossad agent. My Israeli source says he’s a sayan. The Mossad says nothing. Who are we to believe?
How did Saposhnik become such a “close friend” of Hamzah? By running in the same circles as Erik Prince and tons of other security consultants peddling their wares in the Middle East taking advantage of the misery, corruption and oppression. Close friend, my ass. Nobody is your close friend in that business unless they have cold hard cash or access to the levers of power.
That may be all YOU know. But you’ve left out all the juicy parts in Barak Ravid’s report. Those are facts too. Or are the only ‘facts’ in the story the ones you say are? While the others are what? Lies?
What a condescending borderline racist thing to say. Hashemite tribal politics? You think it works much differently than politics anywhere else?
“ Hashemite tribal politics”
it is known they are not aristocracy but Beduins, riders of camels. the whole ME was carved out by a few European countries. Just look at a map, ruler and pencil borders and names for countries which were not independent but under the Ottoman rule until the western ‘colonizers’ did what they know to do best.
@ Avram: Thanks for exposing your racism. Whatever the Hussein family was at one time 100 years ago is not what it is now. It is a royal family ruling an entire nation. You will treat it with the respect it deserves. Not the disrespect & racism with which Israelis like you customarily treat it.
The Hashemites also House of Hashim had ruled the city of Mecca continuously from the 10th century, frequently as vassals of outside powers, and were given the thrones of the Hejaz, Syria, Iraq and Jordan following their World War I alliance with the British Empire.
Avram Stern who gave Israel to Zionists? Same regressive empire, which in this case did not know what they were doing.
“…Shaposhnik is, according to a well-informed Israeli source, what’s known as a sayan, an Israeli living abroad who performs various crucial tasks overseas for agents who cannot perform them themselves for legal, or other reasons.”
Otherwise known as ‘plausable deniability’; the technique of armslength offshoring of awkward operations that keeps our hands presentably manicured for inspection. Up the $£€€ve, so to write.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but for decades now I’ve always considered Jordan what the Sykes/Picot division of the spoils intended back in 1916..a c£ient of the Brutish Vampire until it passed to the Wa$hington office circa 1945…well the WA$P £angley office really.
Education and experience in Israeli government service (PMO) until 2011 when he joined RS-LS Logistical Solutions (HQ in Lod, Israel) with SOS for persons in distress. His short stint with Constellis as Chief Strategy Advisor, hired by Jason DeYonker brought Roy into contact with the Dark World of Middle East intelligence and mercenaries with main HQ and monies coming from the UAE.
– UAE is paying ex-CIA officers to build a spy empire in the Gulf – Dec. 2017
– Saudi intelligence and businessmen offered assassination program to Trump officials – Nov. 2018
– UAE’s covert web of spies, hackers and mercenary death squads – Feb. 2021
In his LinkedIn profile is noted RSLS-GMSS – United Kingdom. Can’t find Roy listed on website GMSS in Mc Lean, Virginia – 23 employees.
Constellis Group was near bankruptcy with a debt load of $1bn in Januari 2020. Missed contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan was a severe setback.
This is not a plot to overthrow the King, nor is Israel involved in any way.
“This is an internal Jordanian affair that has nothing to do with Israel,” a former Jordanian government official told The Jerusalem Post.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/jordan-a-family-dispute-or-a-foreign-backed-plot-664086
.🤣.
@ Alice: I call bullshit. You offer an anonymous supposedly Jordanian source published in an Israeli newspaper known for publishing hoaxes, misinformation & disinformation. It’s purely a coincidence that this source spouts a narrative most convenient to the Mossad, which itself has extremely close ties to Jordanian intelligence. You’ll have to excuse my discounting it and you entirely unless you can offer credible sources.
Good you can call bullshit.
If we call your source or your articles misinformed bullshit, we get banned.
@Alice: I know my source and he’s reported scores of accurate stories over years. You don’t know the Post’s source and it has posted multiple hoaxes over the tears. I’ll put my source up against yours any day of the week
No plot.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/H1LtocFB00
I ask you. Where does Roy Shaposhnik go to get his reputation back?
Uggh.
@Alice: More bullshit in service of the Mossad. First none of us has heard the recording and knows what it says or doesn’t say. Even if the recording is authentic and it doesn’t mention foreign interference doesn’t mean there wasn’t any. It simply means it wasn’t raised in that particular conversation.
You are done in this thread.
@Alice: More bullshit in service of the Mossad. First none of us has heard the recording and knows what it says or doesn’t say. Even if the recording is authentic and it doesn’t mention foreign interference doesn’t mean there wasn’t any. It simply means it wasn’t raised in that particular conversation.
Poor Roy Shaposhnik. Somehow, he’ll survive with apologists like you pimping for him.
By the way, you act as if you’ve cleared him of the charge of being a Mossad sayan. You haven’t. He is and continues to be. I doubt Mossad cares much about his reputation, except insofar as it enables them to use him on its on behalf.
You are done in this thread.
Right! Did I miss something … a family feud between brothers, so I offered my contacts and private jet to make a clandestine move and let your family skip the country. Nice that you got backing from the Majali family tribe. For a good friend always, never cared for your King brother anyway when we trained jihadists for the war in Syria. 😉
Statement of King Abdullah reads an Act if sedition, more credible than any Israeli outlet or journalist. Jordan has full backing of the Biden White House and Netanyahu is aggravating the political difference. Jordan has a stake in the Palestinian cause and could not be bribed to sign the deceitful Abraham “ Business” Accords. What is the role of Mohammed Dahlan and the UAE? Agent for Israel and betrayal of the Palestinian cause. Has Turkey and/or Qatar put a bounty on his capture?
Majali clan warns the Jordanian king
The Jordanian Majali clan issued a strongly worded statement yesterday evening, Saturday, in which it warned the King of Jordan and the authorities there against prejudice. With her son Yasser al-Majali, director of Prince Hamzah’s office, after he was suddenly arrested yesterday and accused of participating in the coup attempt.
And the “Diwan of the Majali Family” published on its Facebook page the statement that Watan monitored, and in it it read: “After praise be to God, who does not thank him for something bad except him.
On this black day in the history of Jordan and Karak, corresponding to 04/03/2021, the dignity and freedom of some of our best men were attacked. Members of the clan who served the country with all dedication and sincerity and in its darkest conditions.”
Just 5 hours ago, BBC News published …
Jordan’s Prince Hamzah vows to defy ‘house arrest’ orders
After meeting King Abdullah II …
Prince Hamzeh vows loyalty to King, Hashemite legacy | Jordan Times |
In 1990 al-Majali formed the Jordanian Covenant Party (Hizb al-Ahd al-Urduni) to express pro-regime, East Bank nationalist feeling in opposition to leftist and Palestinian-oriented parties. See also Black September or the Jordanian Civil War of 1970.
Perhaps Roy Saposhnik came for Saudi-Jordanian national Bassem Awadallah … more than a close friend to murderous crown princes of KSA and Abu Dhabi Emirate.
Perhaps you now have to make shit up.
In statement read on his behalf, Abdullah says ‘sedition has been nipped in the bud’ and that his half-brother Prince Hamzah is ‘in his palace under my protection’
King Abdullah II sends letter to Jordanian people
Jordan’s coup d’etat nearly rivals the previous attempt on Dec. 30, 2017.
Jordan Denies King’s Brothers Ousted From Army Over Ties With Saudi Arabia | Haaretz |
Former Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani suggests remnants of the Trump era, mercenaries and assassins with funding and support from the Abrahams Business Club, gave it a go a fortnight ago. Very similar to an earlier attempt late in 2017.